


Spy or Treat

by mitchpell



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Gore, Canon Disabled Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Deaf Character, Deaf Clint Barton, F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen, Halloween, Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:13:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitchpell/pseuds/mitchpell
Summary: A collection of one-shots written in response to the be_compromised Trick or Treat events.Tricks will be dark, gory, and hopefully scary.  Be prepared for blood & guts, violence, and horror.Treats will be light, fluffy, and fun.  Be prepared for sugary sweetness, games, costumes, parties, and family.I will do my best to tag as appropriately as possible.  Chapter descriptions will give more detailed warnings.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Laura Barton
Comments: 8
Kudos: 6





	1. Trick #1 - Possession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They said he was rid of Loki. They said he was not a threat to himself or his family. They said it was safe for him to come home. They were wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for possession, child endangerment, and major character death.

It was the cold that woke her; an unusually deep chill for that time of year. One that did more than leave goose-pimples on her skin and pull heat from her cocoon of blankets. It was unnatural; something that iced her heart with the unshakable feeling that something was terribly wrong. A feeling that intensified when she opened her eyes to the vacant spot beside her. 

Panicked for reasons she couldn’t justify, Laura bolted upright and scanned the room. Her breath, quick and shallow with adrenaline, hung like a heavy cloud in the frigid air. Light from a three-quarter moon seeped in through the bedroom window, muted by a thick layer of frost that somehow coated the inside of the glass. The aberrant glow painted the room with a bluish tint that did little to cast away the shadows and left the corners dark. Despite the poor light, she could still see well enough to know that she was alone. 

“Clint!?” she called out in a whisper, yet unwarranted fear stealing her voice. She waited with bated breath, listening for a response she knew wasn’t coming. It wasn’t just that she’d been too soft; that Clint wouldn’t be able to hear her. She knew. She knew that, even if she screamed at the top of her lungs, the malicious cold wouldn’t allow the sound to carry through the house.

Pushing back the covers, Laura set her feet on the floor, flinching as the cold shot needles up into her skin. She pulled her Glock 43 out of its mattress holster, ignoring the thin sheet of ice forming on the metal as she racked the slide. Keeping the gun leveled, finger off the trigger, she inched across the room and eased open the door.

Outside their bedroom, the preternatural cold intensified, biting into her skin and drawing tears to her eyes. The salted droplets nearly froze as they ran down her cheeks. Two quick glances back towards their room confirmed that nothing had followed her out into the hallway. Pressing her back against the icy wall, Laura forced herself to take calming breaths of frigid air that burned deep in her lungs, before moving forward.

She reached Lila’s room first. Entering as quickly and quietly as possible, she allowed a slow, soft breath of relief when she saw her daughter shivering, but safely tucked in her bed. When checking behind the door and in the closet revealed no threat, she crept back into the hallway, closing the door behind her as quietly as she’d opened it.

Cooper’s room was a mere three steps from Lila’s. As she inched towards the already opened door, fear and adrenaline warred for control of her body; and she struggled against not only the bitter cold, but also her emotions, to keep her hands from shaking. She stopped short at the threshold; inside, Clint, still dressed in nothing but his flannel pajama bottoms, hovered over Cooper. It was a sight that should have flooded her with relief. Instead, the pallor of her husband’s skin and the unnatural blue that burned in his green eyes froze her heart with dread.

“Clint?” she called, loud enough for him to hear, but hopefully not to wake Cooper.

“I am to blame for his failure.”

“No,” she rushed to assure him. “No, you’re not.”

“Failure cannot go unpunished.”

“Clint,” she ordered, forcing steel into her voice as she leveled her gun at his chest. “I need you to step away from our son.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“You do! Just-” metal flashed as he moved his hand, the tip of a blade, frosted from the cold, coming to rest over their son’s chest. Trembling, she slid her finger onto the trigger. “Clint, please!”

“I don’t have a choice.”

Neither, she would later tell herself, did she.

_BAM!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to [Maimat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maimat/pseuds/Maimat) for all the help and suggestions as my beta reader.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!


	2. Trick #2 - Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint and Laura have a disagreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No major warnings apply to this chapter.

“No.”

“Laura…”

“No, Clint. Absolutely not! I can’t do it. I won’t do it.”

“It’s no different…”

“It is a million times different. You are a million times different! And I can’t…I can’t deal with this all over again.”

“They can help me.”

“To what end? Sure they’ll patch you up, slap a high tech Band-Aid on it, and send you back out there. For what? So you can die on us all over again?”

“I didn’t die on you.”

“Yeah, well, it was damn well close enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to [Maimat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maimat/pseuds/Maimat) for all the help and suggestions as my beta reader.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!


	3. Trick #3 - Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A strange call from Natasha leads Clint to the scene of a massacre.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for mass murder, demonic possession, gore, and lots and lots of blood.

It was everywhere. Long bright red streaks and sprays of crimson marred the once white walls. Dark, almost black, pools soaked into the rugs and puddled on the tile floors. Scarlet droplets fell from the ceiling and dripped from every surface, raining further destruction down on the devastation below. The air was pungent with its sharp, metallic taste and rank with its foul odor. There was just so much of it, so much blood.

Biting down on the sudden urge to vomit, Clint forced himself to venture further into the modest, single-family home turned slaughterhouse. That was the only way in which he could think to describe it; though, it was a wholly inadequate description for two reasons. For one, it did nothing to depict the horrific gruesomeness that surrounded him. Secondly, there was not a single body, not even a scrape of flesh, amongst the bloodshed.

Moving slowly, he crept through the house. The soles of his boots, wet with the tacky fluid, stuck slightly on hardwood and tile floors, so that each step was heralded by a soft yet high pitched squelching. The sound grated on his nerves and pierced his ears. The need to silence the god awful noise was almost overwhelming. But he managed to resist, knowing he couldn’t risk throwing the horrorscape into almost near silence. Tightening his grip on his bow, he forced himself to breath through gritted teeth as he continued his search. 

The open layout of the house allowed him to quickly clear the ground level, before moving to advance to the second floor. At the base of the stairs, he found a thick heavy trail that ran from the bottom clear to the top. He hesitated before pressing his back against the blood smeared wall and angling his nocked arrow upwards.

The small landing at the top of the staircase held more of the same. But the stain that spread across the saturated carpet seemed to emanate from beneath the door to his front left. Stepping lightly, he crossed the landing and put his back to the wall alongside the door. He took a deep steadying breath, drew his bow, and breached the room.

The harsh light of the bathroom was almost blinding and he quickly blinked away the spots that threatened to obscure his vision. His bow dropped, the string jerking in his hand as he took in the carnage. Bodies, shredded and ripped, torn and mangled, discarded in heaps, filled the room. Too numerous to count, they were the obvious source of bloodshed downstairs. Sitting in the jacuzzi tub, lounging in a bath of blood and death, sat Natasha.

Clint swallowed thickly, forcing down the fear and bile that threatened to rise. “Nat?” It came out as no more than a whisper, a wisp of words that died just past his lips, but it was enough.

Lifting her head, she looked at him with dead black eyes, as a cruel dark smile pulled at her lips. “Clint,” she purred, seductive yet cold, and completely wrong, “so glad you could join me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to [Maimat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maimat/pseuds/Maimat) for all the help and suggestions as my beta reader.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!


	4. Treat #1 - Candy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint should have heeded Laura's warning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No additional warnings are need for this chapter.

“Hey, Bob,” Laura called softly from the threshold to the prone figure laying on the living room floor. “Mr. Incredible,” she added, increasing her volume when she didn’t get an answer. When he still failed to respond, she shook her head, hiked Nate further up on her hip, and crossed the room. Leaning over him, she toed him in the side, her foot barely connecting through the thick padding of his costume.

Clint groaned in response and wrapped his arms protectively around his midsection. “Please don’t do that,” he moaned.

“I warned you not to eat all that candy,” she chastised. A moment of silence stretched out, his brow scrunched in confusion before he cracked an eye to look at her. “I warned you,” she repeated, awkwardly signing “warn” and “candy” whilst holding onto Nate.

“Worth it,” he muttered, before letting his eyes drift shut again.

Annoyed, she toed him again with more force than was strictly necessary. Guilt threatened to befall her, as his eyes flew open and his face literally paled to an almost sickly green. “You owe me,” she both said and signed emphatically.

“I know,” he ground out between gritted teeth as he clenched his eyes shut.

“Don’t throw up on the rug,” she added, knowing that the statement had literally fallen on deaf ears. She gave him a long exasperated look, then quickly turned away before a fond, traitorous smile could pull at her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to [Maimat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maimat/pseuds/Maimat) for all the help and suggestions as my beta reader.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!


End file.
